


The Important Things

by xBs_and_impalas



Category: Star Trek: Picard
Genre: Drawing, Fluff, Gen, How Do I Tag, Hugh gets a hobby, Hugh loves everyone he just doesn't know how to tell them that, Sentimental
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:22:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24425728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xBs_and_impalas/pseuds/xBs_and_impalas
Summary: Hugh finally realizes that, in the safety of La Sirena, he can relax. He can do things that he enjoys rather than just the things he has to do, and he's found just the thing.
Relationships: Elnor & Hugh | Third of Five
Comments: 10
Kudos: 25





	The Important Things

**Author's Note:**

> This was written spontaneously by one of my dear friends and me at about 9 at night in the span of about thirty minutes. Both of us were texting each other paragraph by paragraph, and we actually got something we were proud of! This will be the first piece of writing either of us has shared publicly even though she ADORES fanfic writing and has about 20 fics written. She doesn't have an AO3, so here I am! Enjoy.

Hugh has never had time to sit down and allow himself to relax. In truth, he’s never really felt safe enough in an environment to do so. However, after managing to survive everything from a Zhat Vash attack to a shipwreck, he finds himself, finally, somewhere safe. Aboard La Sirena, he discovers that he can allow himself to do things he enjoys.

The only problem with this, though, is that he doesn’t quite know what he enjoys doing. He tries several activities, taking ideas from the other members of La Sirena’s crew. Picard teaches him how to play chess, though that is something Hugh quickly discovers he is abysmal at. Agnes tries to show him how to bake, but it winds up frustrating him more than anything else. He even tries reading one of Rios’s books, but something about reading about the inevitability of death just doesn’t appeal to him.

When Hugh acquires a small notebook and some colored pens on a planet during a supply run, he doesn’t expect a different result, but what the hell? It never hurt to try.

Upon returning to La Sirena, he retires to his room with the little notebook. Much to his surprise, he finds that drawing is both relaxing and enjoyable. Even more surprising, though, is that he’s good at it.

He doesn’t usually draw things for himself, instead taking to heart what the crew of La Sirena enjoys and drawing pictures for them.

For Rios, he draws their ship orbiting a bright green planet, the reflection glinting off of the ship’s hull like sunlight on a mirror.

For Raffi, he lays out a landscape of her homeworld, which he knows to be Earth, even though he’d never set foot on the planet himself.

For Agnes, he draws her childhood dog, a big, fluffy Great Pyrenees from a picture he’d seen her looking at during a quiet afternoon.

For Soji, he recreates a beautiful orchid, Dahj oncidium, that was named after her sister. She’d once described it to him during a conversation they’d had over a cup of tea, and he could recall every detail.

For Picard, he draws the bridge of the Enterprise D, for Hugh knows that Picard may have chosen to live at his Chateau, but it had never truly been his home.

For Seven, he sketches Voyager as it flies past a nebula. She never really talks about Voyager, but Hugh knows how much it had affected her, whether she wanted to admit it or not.

For Elnor, Hugh draws Spot the cat. Well, in its entirety, it’s a picture of Spot sitting on the table of Picard’s Enterprise D ready room, staring up at Livingston the lionfish. Hugh remembers being fascinated by that fish during his time on the Enterprise, and Elnor had been dying to meet a cat since the beginning (often reminding Hugh of this during their planetary visits). Hugh thought, why not?

Hugh never signs these pictures, and no one ever sees him drawing. He usually does it when he can’t sleep, in the privacy of his room. He also never gives them to the crew in person, usually opting to simply leave them in places he knows the intended recipients would find them. The smiles on the faces of those he gives them to are enough to keep him going. Though, after everyone aboard had gotten one but Hugh and the only person on board who had ever seen Livingston aside from Picard was the xB, it doesn’t take long for people to put two and two together. However, every time they try to ask Hugh about it or thank him, he denies involvement.

Elnor is the only one who remains persistent. The night after his drawing shows up, tucked carefully under the handle of a sword he’d left on the table, he decides to pay Hugh a visit.

When Elnor enters Hugh’s room, he finds the xB sitting on the edge of the bed, regarding him with soft curiosity. Joining Hugh on the edge of the bed, Elnor hands him the picture of Spot and the lionfish he’d been given.

“Did you draw this? And the ones the others have gotten?”

Hugh doesn’t know if he wants to tell Elnor, but in the end, it isn’t worth lying about. That, and Hugh couldn’t lie to Elnor; he could see through Hugh as no one else could.

He chooses not to respond verbally. Instead, he gets up and goes over to his desk, opening his drawer and pulling out the little notebook. That book had become something extremely personal, something he’d never imagined sharing, something he used to cope with the nightmares and traumas he didn’t want to burden the others with. When he hands it to Elnor, he feels a pit growing in his stomach.

When Elnor opens the book, it’s all he can do to stop his jaw from dropping, for nearly every page holds an absolutely resplendent drawing. There are landscapes so detailed that Elnor can identify the planets they’re from: Vashti, Coppelius, Nepenthe, Earth, even though Elnor was nearly positive that Hugh had never been to most of them. There’s one of a strange building, the architecture unlike anything Elnor had ever seen, sitting atop a hill in a desert-looking place. There are quite a few of the catwalks of the Artifact, even one of the ship as a whole, every detail unmistakable.

The ones that stun Elnor the most, though, are the people. Hugh has drawn every member of La Sirena’s crew, a few of Elnor, some of him fighting, others just smiling softly, many of the xBs, even some that Elnor recognizes as the crew of the Enterprise D, though they look much younger. There is even one of Narissa, though Elnor guesses that one had been done during one of Hugh’s worse nights.

Every single drawing is so beautifully detailed that Elnor wonders briefly if Hugh’s prosthetic eye allows him better accuracy, but that thought doesn’t last long. No, these are just packed with emotion that machinery simply is not capable of. This is all Hugh.

When Elnor looks back up, Hugh regards him with eyes full of anxiety.

“You did these? All of them?”

Hugh nods, dropping his gaze away from Elnor’s. The Qowat Milat closes the book and places it carefully in Hugh’s lap.

“Can you teach me?”

At this, Hugh’s eyes snap upward to meet Elnor’s, the unease that had been there before replaced with confusion.

“They’re beautiful, Hugh. I’ve never seen drawings like these. I’d gladly learn from you if you’ll teach me.”

Hugh can’t help the idiotic smile that breaks across his face.

“Yes.”

**Author's Note:**

> Well, it's not great, but it's some cute fluff for you guys! Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
